Book reviews and other bookish things. Ideally I would post at least the title of each book I complete, but apparently even that is too much work. I'll do my best.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain, by Annie Proulx. Scribner 2005, 55 pages

I'd already seen the movie when I read this short story last night. It's very rare when I can read the original text in less time than it takes to watch the movie made from it. I'm pretty amazed that such a short story could be turned into such a great movie, but it worked out just fine.

The story is written in dry, sparse prose. This could easily have been expanded into a much longer book, but the sparseness was appropriate for the subject matter. Men of few words, in a relationship they don't talk about. Details and color are saved for certain moments, leaving the rest of their lives in a kind of haze.

If you've seen the movie, you probably won't get much more out of reading it. The adaptation does the story justice. Most of the dialog (as far as I remember) is transcribed word for word, which gives a good sense of Proulx's language style. If you are a fan of the story, reading it in print does give it a slightly different take, and you won't be disappointed.